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From: Thomas Andersson on 13 Mar 2010 14:23
Hi!

I'm hoping to take the big jump from my old AMD 4200+ to an all new
architecture, intel based of course, soon and hope for some help and input.

I aim for the Asus P7P55D-E motherboard and will have to settle for PC1600
ram (hopefully better).
GFX card will most likely be a NVidia GTX260.

The big question is what CPU to chose? As it's aimed as a gaming rig
internal gfx is out so no i3, not sure3 I have any use for that
virtualization stuff so no need for i7, leaving i5. from what I've gathered
it's better to go for a faster dual core than a quad core as game doesn't
realy scale with multicores anyway yet.
What do you suggest as a good gaming CPU out of the current i-range out of
the box that can also handle some air cooled overclocking (nothing extreme
but enough to get some extra value for the money)? What do you think is the
current best value for money?

Any other suggestions? (I assume ram will be debated and that faster ram is
good, but what would be the sweet spot there value/money?),

TIA
Thomas


From: Thomas Andersson on 13 Mar 2010 18:47
William wrote:

> I just went through this in January. I went with the ASUS P7P55D EVO
> because of its 'next to the top end' design, as I always like to
> purchase the 'sweet spot' which is usually one down from whatever is
> the best unit in the line. I like its expansion layout, lots of room
> for boards, and pcie-16 for my video, and pcie-4 for my tuner card. I also
> like the power regulator setup, multiple USB ports, and sata
> ports.

I'm aiming for basically the same mobo, although the newer version "-e" that
has the new USB and SATA ports. Sticking to the base version though as cost
cutting is a big concern unfortunately.

> I went with the Intel Core i7 860 cpu because it is one down from the
> fastest cpu available for the P7P55D LGA1156 board at 1/2 the cost of
> the i7 870. I also like speed steep technology and multi-threading

I don't think the i7s have anything I need badly enough to splurge the extra
cash on it and hope that the 750 will OC enough to make up for any dpseed
difference.

> I went with two sets of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 ram 4gig kits. They
> are fast timing ram, and allow me to play with over clocking
> when the desire comes to me in the future. In the mean time I have
> no problems with the system booting up each and every time.

But isn't 1600 ram the low end of what it supports? I thought for sure tha
one category in a iX system NOT to save on would be ram as the controller is
internal in the cpu, the faster the ram, the faster the system??

> I also purchased a new power supply, a Corsair CMPSU-750TX, a 750wt
> power supply. It has a single 12 volt rail, and lots of power for
> those critical milliseconds during power up sequence. This is
> usually where people have problems with no-boot failure. So be sure
> you have a good power supply with that system.

I have a fairly new Corsair 650W and won't SLI so should be fine.

> I purchased a Western Digital VelociRaptor 300gb 10,000 rpm HD. I
> have put all the OS and programs on this HD and all the data files,
> images, photos, music, and video on a 1.5tb Samsung Greed hd. The
> VelociRaptor is one of the fastest and reliable HD's on the market. I just
> don't think SSD is ready for prime time as of yet. I've read
> to much failure and high prices for SSD for me to make the move to
> it. Perhaps in the next upgrade cycle I will go SSD.

I wouldn't mind SSD, but can't afford it, the new system will have to use
inherited sata disks from my old system.

> I went with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit for the OS. I don't know why,
> their isn't much included in Ultimate to make it worth the extra
> money over 64bit Home. Rather disappointing actually.

Got a free legit copy of W7 Home premium 64bit so OS choise was easy ;)



From: William on 14 Mar 2010 14:00


"Thomas Andersson" <thomas(a)tifozi.net> wrote in message
news:802mgbFgpqU1(a)mid.individual.net...
> William wrote:
>
>> I just went through this in January. I went with the ASUS P7P55D EVO
>> because of its 'next to the top end' design, as I always like to
>> purchase the 'sweet spot' which is usually one down from whatever is
>> the best unit in the line. I like its expansion layout, lots of room
>> for boards, and pcie-16 for my video, and pcie-4 for my tuner card. I
>> also like the power regulator setup, multiple USB ports, and sata
>> ports.
>
> I'm aiming for basically the same mobo, although the newer version "-e"
> that has the new USB and SATA ports. Sticking to the base version though
> as cost cutting is a big concern unfortunately.
>
>> I went with the Intel Core i7 860 cpu because it is one down from the
>> fastest cpu available for the P7P55D LGA1156 board at 1/2 the cost of
>> the i7 870. I also like speed steep technology and multi-threading
>
> I don't think the i7s have anything I need badly enough to splurge the
> extra cash on it and hope that the 750 will OC enough to make up for any
> dpseed difference.

.. . . . and the i860 can be OC to exceed any i5/i3 you are looking at. That
is one advantage that speed step has over the i5/i3 series. The i860 is
rated at 2.8 Ghz, but speed step technology will run the processor from 1.4
Ghz up to 3.46 Ghz without external overclocking.

>
>> I went with two sets of Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600 ram 4gig kits. They
>> are fast timing ram, and allow me to play with over clocking
>> when the desire comes to me in the future. In the mean time I have
>> no problems with the system booting up each and every time.
>
> But isn't 1600 ram the low end of what it supports? I thought for sure tha
> one category in a iX system NOT to save on would be ram as the controller
> is internal in the cpu, the faster the ram, the faster the system??

No. The i7 870 /860 are rated for DDR3-1066/1333. At least that is what
Intel's specifications state. To get to DDR3-1600 you have to have a board
and BIOS that supports OC, which the P7P55D EVO series does automatically
for 1600 once the correct voltage and XMP mode is selected.


>
>> I also purchased a new power supply, a Corsair CMPSU-750TX, a 750wt
>> power supply. It has a single 12 volt rail, and lots of power for
>> those critical milliseconds during power up sequence. This is
>> usually where people have problems with no-boot failure. So be sure
>> you have a good power supply with that system.
>
> I have a fairly new Corsair 650W and won't SLI so should be fine.
>
>> I purchased a Western Digital VelociRaptor 300gb 10,000 rpm HD. I
>> have put all the OS and programs on this HD and all the data files,
>> images, photos, music, and video on a 1.5tb Samsung Greed hd. The
>> VelociRaptor is one of the fastest and reliable HD's on the market. I
>> just don't think SSD is ready for prime time as of yet. I've read
>> to much failure and high prices for SSD for me to make the move to
>> it. Perhaps in the next upgrade cycle I will go SSD.
>
> I wouldn't mind SSD, but can't afford it, the new system will have to use
> inherited sata disks from my old system.
>
>> I went with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit for the OS. I don't know why,
>> their isn't much included in Ultimate to make it worth the extra
>> money over 64bit Home. Rather disappointing actually.
>
> Got a free legit copy of W7 Home premium 64bit so OS choise was easy ;)

You are not missing anything.

William
>
>
>
From: Jim on 18 Mar 2010 14:26
Unless you live near a Microcenter a i5 750 and put the $100 you saved
towards a better video card.


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